Author's Note:
Sorry I haven't updated for so long! First I had exams... then I find out that this major translations project was past the due date (even though the teacher never gave us a definite due date) so I've been cramming to finish that... Then I finished it, and just wanted to sit back and be lazy... But hey, a nice long chapter for my beloved readers!
The title doesn't make much sense, I just wanted to do a bit of play on words, that's all. Sorry for the long wait - but hey, I decided not to be mean and leave it as a whole chapter rather than chop it in half for a cliffie.
NOW EDITED!
Disclaimer:
Same old, same old... my plot bunny, my "Darron" (aka, Harry changed), my new professors... I don't own anything else.
The (were)Wolf Who Cried Boy
Darron decided thathewould never be rid of fame. It seemed that regardless of what he did, or even who he became, people just loved to stare and talk about him. He really hadn't wanted to attack Severus, but when provoked, funny things always happened. The summer before he found out he was a wizard, he set a boa constrictor on his cousin Dudley, and even the summer before his third year, he blew up his aunt after she insulted his parents. Sadly, no one knew that Severus had provoked him, and he wasn't about to say. If he did, they would want to know why, and that would just make things even worse. Darron was extremely grateful that Severus chose to stay silent as well.
He really had nothing now, no invisibility cloak to sneak out with, no Marauders' Map to avoid the staff, not even someone he could truly call "friend". When he met the Marauders the morning after his attack, he found Sirius practically praising him. James had cracked a smile, but soon wiped it off his face after catching sight of Lily Evans, who glared at the whole group before storming away. Both Remus and Peter regarded him warily, his Patronus still fresh in their minds. Wishing even Hermione's admonishments, he fled the Great Hall after eating his breakfast as fast as possible.
Before heading to class, he popped by the hospital wing, wanting to apologize to Severus. His anger and hate had dissipated, leaving behind guilt for his actions. After all, a sixteen-year-old shouldn't be responsible for his actions twenty years in the future. Darron was stopped and kicked out by Madam Pomfrey who yelled at him for a good fifteen minutes for his abhorrent actions. He made his escape and ran all the way to class, certain that the mediwitch was going to chase after him with some large, harmful object in hand.
All the professors were displeased with him, to say the least. He endured the silent looks of anger and worked quietly by himself. For his first week, wandless and banned from magic, he could only do his written assignments and was failed for all practical work. As soon as his magic ban was lifted, he worked hard to catch up. With his 24-hour curfew, Darron found himself reading and re-reading all his textbooks 3 or 4 times before he finally persuaded his professor escort, who had been Professor Kentflech that day, to allow him to go to the library for some more books to read. By chance, he found a book on invisibility and disillusionment charms and learned them in the privacy of his - and Severus' - room. Severus had adopted a policy of coming in only when necessary, returning late at night long after Darron was asleep and left before he woke up. Darron wanted to apologize but didn't know how, so he stayed silent. Severus simply continued to ignore him.
Two days before the Quidditch tryouts for the Slytherins - Darron had spent a long time arguing with the staff before they agreed to let him tryout, he had no wish for a second Quidditch ban - everything changed. Stuck in the windowless Slytherin dormatories, he was unaware that the full foom drew near. The day of the full moon was just like any other day; Darron woke up, ate breakfast, went to classes, etc. There was nothing to show that anything extraordinary would happen that night.
After dinner, Severus was cornered by Sirius as he left the Great Hall.
"So, Snivellius, how does it feel to be banned from your own room?" Sirius gloated.
"None of your business," Severus sneered.
Sirius smirked, "I know something you'll be interested in." He dropped to a whisper, "there's a passage under the Whomping Willow. Touch the knob of the tree with a long branch and go in at moon rise." He raised his voice again, "Of course, if you're too scared to go..."
Severus shoved past the Gryffindor, not bothering to reply. He knew it was a trick, with the "being scared" comment as bait, but he had wondered, for five long years, where that little crowd disappeared to at least once a month. Now was the perfect opportunity. Checking his watch and his moon chart, he realized he only had 30 minutes until moon rise. Arriving in the Slytherin Common Room, he stood with indecision. Who was to say that Black wasn't trying to make a fool of him? What if there was no passages under the Whomping Willow, he would be beaten to a pulp by the tree!
"Severus?" a fellow sixth year Slytherin witch asked.
The word registered in his brain but not the voice. He had no idea how loon he had stood there until that girl called out his name. Glancing his watch again - less than 10 minutes left - he made up his mind and went to his room. Darron looked up in shock when he entered, as he never came in this early. Ignoring the mysterous boy, Severus dumped his bag, grabbed his cloak and left in less than 30 seconds, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Darron. Shrugging, Darron returned to his homework.
While Sirius had been confronting Severus, James was getting ready for the Quidditch tryouts for the Gryffindor team. He left the change room and began to fly around the Quidditch pitch for warm-up. Soon, everyone had assembled and the tryouts began. James practised on his own, releasing the Snitch and waited for a minute before starting his chase. Halfway through his chase after finally spotting the elusive golden ball, he noticed movement in the direction of the Whomping Willow. He pulled out of his dive and looked, frowning in confusion. Remus had been escorted to the Shrieking Shack directly after their last class, so there was no reason for anyone to go there. The shadowy person stepped into a patch of moonlight and James gasped - it was Severus Snape.
James watched as the Slytherin picked up a branch, prodded at the tree,and dropped into the tunnel. Horrified, the Seeker checked his watch - moon rise was in a minute, meaning Remus would be starting his transformation in a short minute. Forgetting all about the Golden Snitch and Quidditch, James turned and zoomed towards the tree. Landing a safe distance away, he grabbed the same branch Severus had used, stilled the tree, and ran down the dark, dank tunnel, praying to whatever god was listening that he would be on time.
Severus made his way carefully down the tunnel, unaware that he had been spotted. With only the faint light of his lumos spell, every shadow on the jagged wall seemed to jump out at him. He was considering turning back, certain that Sirius had led him on a wild goose chase when he heard a soft whimper. He paused, frowning as he strained his ears. Suddenly, the whimpers erupted into agonizing screams. Eyes wide, he ran forward to find the tunnel sloping upwards to a trapdoor, where the screams are coming from.
James ran like there was no tomorrow. He had no idea what gave Severus the idea to come out here, but he was certain that the Slytherin boy had no idea what it was about. He tripped over a rock jutting out from the ground and fell on his face. Groaning in pain, he laid there, gasping and clutching the stitch on his side. Before he could fully recover, Remus' painful shrieks reverberated down the tunnel. Horrified, he pushed himself up, biting back a scream when he realized he twisted his ankle in his fall. Fearing for Severus' life, he ran, ignoring all pain and focused on one thing - getting them both out alive. Unfortunately, it was too confined for hm to transform into his Animagus form.
At the end of the tunnel, Severus pushed the trapdoor open with shaky hands. Unable to see much, he scrambled up through the tiny door and stood. Looking about, he realized he was in the Shrieking Shack. Movement caught his eye and he looked, seeing a faint shadow moving about in a connecting room before breaking into another tortured scream. The shadown looked human, but was contorting into odd shapes. Half of his brain was screaming for him to run while the other half was thrilled by the mystery. His feet, having a will of their own, ignore both and moved towards the shadow.
The tunnel finally began to curve upwards as James pushed the last of his energy into the last bit of the run. His mad dash propelled him head first into the trapdoor, which burst open on impact. Seeing stars and with his ears ringing from the force of his head slamming into the heavy door, he laid sprawled on the ground, wasting precious time while he waiting for his head to stop spinning. Pushing himself gingerly up, he looked up just in time to see the tail of Severus' robes disappear into the room where Remus was.
So fascinated and horrified at the morphing shoaw, Severus never even heard the loud crash of a head hitting wood, nor noticed the movement as James Potter came flying in from the tunnel. He walked into the room, but even with his lumos spell, was unable to the figure huddled in the corner clearly. Feeling bold, he walked up to the trembling creature and froze in horror. It was Remus Lupin... but not.
The figure still had Lupin's face, but fur was beginning to sprout out everywhere. His limbs were elongated, and the same was happening to his face. Right on cue, he opened his mouth to scream once again, except this time, it changed into a painful howl halfway through. Severus could only stare - his brain had shut down at the sight and the only thought racing through his head like a broken record was "he's a werewolf". He was mouthing the words, but no sound came out. Remus soon finished his painful transformation and glemaed at Severus with wild amber eyes, drooling.
James ran into the room, stumbling slightly due to his ankle, and grabbed the back of Severus' robes in the nick of time. He pulled at the same time the werewolf took a swipe with his sharp claws, so that the robes were torn into shreads rather than the Slytherin's body. Something snapped and Severus began screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Move, Snape, run!" James screeched at the frozen figure before transforming into his Animagus form - there was barely enough room.
Severus kept screaming, oblivious to all except the werewolf.
James cursed in his mind, throwing Remus to the wall with his antlers as the werewolf tried to attack Severus once more. It was no use, with a human body in the room, it was impossible to return Remus to a calmer mind set. Keeping a cautious eye on the werewolf, James began gently kicking Severus' shock-stiffed body towards the direction of the trapdoor. He had a little difficulty in getting through the doorway, causing him a slash on his chest, but he pulled free, cracking the walls in the process. He risked a quick glance at the wizard behind him while staying near the doorway where it was easier to keep the werewolf at bay.
It was no use, Severus was in full-blown panic mode. He stared without seeing, not once stopping in his screams save for the spastic gasps of breath. If they were to get out of here alive, James would have to change back to open the trapdoor. He knew for a fact that Remus, in his wild form, had a lot more stamina than he did, human or stag, not to mention his current wounded and semi-poisoned self. Stepping back, he allowed the werewolf to come halfway into the room before charging and throwing the slightly smaller animal as hard as he could. Remus crashed into a pile of broken furniture with a painful howl. Changing back into himself, James ripped open the wooden door and threw Severus in before jumping down himself.
James landed in a crumpled heap on top of Severus, who kept screaming non-stop. Above him, frantic scratching could be heard, as Remus tried to break through the magically warded door, occasionally barking out a frustrated snarl. The scratches on his chest were bleeding sluggishly, the poison from the werewolf's claws slowly seeping into his blood stream. His vision spun, unconsciousness threatening at the edges of his vision. James knew that he would not be able to make it back to the castle by himself, never mind the horror stricken Severus. Having no other choice, he raised his hand and slapped the screaming boy across the face.
A ringing silence fell. The darkness crept undeterred into James' eyes.
"Snape... Severus, I need you, I need..." James didn't know what he needed, the poison slowing his thought process. With a feeble wave of his hand, he collapsed on to the stunned boy.
Severus was lost. He remember... he wasn't sure what he remembered, shock inhibiting his memories. Vague flashes of images and sounds floated through his mind, as if he was removed from everything around him There were amber eyes and sharp teeth, screaming and claws slashing through the air. Nothing made any sense. Moving from instinct rather than of his own will, he stood, drapped one of James' arms over his shoulder, and began to, unknowingly, drag his archenemy down the passage, away from the trapdoor and back to the sanity of Hogwarts. His forgotten wand gripped tightly in one hand, the lumos spell had never wavered throughout the whole ordeal.
Time passed as Severus shuffled, stumbled, tripped, dragged, or pulled both himself and James Potter's unconcious body through the long tunnel. His subconscious remembered to still the Whomping Willow before going back above ground. By then, the full moon was high in the sky and it was way past curfew. Staggering through the castle doors, the unlikely pair was found by the Headmaster. After hearing a vague story from Severus - something about Sirius Black, taunting, Whomping Willow, tunnel, Shrieking Shack, Remus Lupin, werewolf, etc. - Dumbledore understood enough to escort the two boys to the hospital wing, especially since the Slytherin seemed to be unaware of the body he was half-carrying, half-dragging.
In the hospital wing, Severus was declared to be in full health but in shock. After a Calming Draft, he was escorted back to the dungeons by Dumbledore himself. Meanwhile, James had tostay overnight after being fed antidote for the werewolf poison and treated for the scratch marks, his broken ankle, and his major concussion. Letting the two boys rest, Dumbledore decided to talk to Sirius Black first thing in the morning, and to Severus Snape as soon as he recovered from his shock. Sighing sadly, the Headmaster let his mind wander to the mysterious Darron who had attacked his roommate for some unknown reason to the newest even of Severus nearly meeting his death due to a probable prank by Sirius Black in the form of Remus Lupin as a werewolf. Things were not going well.
The sound of a heavy door slammig woke Darron from his sleep. A "lumos" was uttered quietly and soft light filled the room. As he looked up, Darron was startled wide awake by Severus' appearance. The normally pale face was completely drained of colour, resembling a vampire's visage. His eyes were fully dilated and he moved in tiny, shuffling steps. Darron wracked his brain and started when he realized that it was the night of the full moon. Realization lit up in his bright green eyes.
"Severus?" he called out softly, barely audible.
Severus slowly turned to face him, and Darron flinched. The onyx eyes, while devoid of warmth and emotion, usually held a gleam of intelligence and determination. However, they were now blank and lifeless. Darron scanned the rest of his roommate's body, noticing for the first time, the shredded appearance. He had no doubt that Sirius' prank had happened tonight Worried, he reached out and tugged on the sleeve of the tattered robes.
"Come to bed, Severus," Darron said in a warm, soft voice.
It was that caring tone of voice which undid everything. Tripping on the torn cloth, Severus fell headfirst into Darron's chest. A few tears fell, then heart-wrenching sobs ripped out of the pale boy's throat as reality finally caught up. Flustered at the sudden change, Darron wrapped his arms around the quivering body and rubbed circles on Severus' back. He had no idea how much time had passed, but slowly, Severus, voice grown hoarse from crying, subsided in his shaking and finally fell asleep. Sighing, Darron pulled his roommate on to his bed. Arranging his blankets to cover both of their bodies, he drifted off to sleep with a vague thought in his head, 'mustn't let him be alone'. Pulling the other boy closer, he reached up and stroked the black hair
"Not greasy... at all... mmm, silky," Darron murmured before sleep finally claimed him.
End notes:
Right... I tried to type my end notes twice now, but kept hitting the wrong button. Anyway, next update, don't expect it until at least a month from now. Going travelling, won't have time to write nor Internet access. As usual, please read & review.